Foreigners
by Hans Gross
Summary: The world is under a new threat! The likes of wich Team RWBY has never seen! Can they stop this before it's too late? Time to find out!
1. Chapter 1

Authors note, this my first and I did it on an iPad, so there are random lines to indicate a change in location and characters perspective.

I do not own any of these characters or RWBY or anything in this really, after all its a FANfic, about somebody else's thing.

There might be shipping later I'm not yet sure.

Chapter One: Closed Borders

The Kingdom of Vale sat quiet and still on this rather cold Summer day, most people were inside with heaters turned up and TV's on, the streets were empty of people except one girl.

Outside in the Main Street, a blonde seemed to be ignoring the cold weather and was talking to her friends over the phone, she wore mostly brown and yellow, and a mighty fine pair of sunglasses, the phone was ordinary, nothing interesting about that.

As she walked she noticed she was walking towards a café and decided she might stop for a drink, hanging up, she made her order and sat to wait, it wasn't long before she was walking again with a hot chocolate in hand and phone in the other, dialing someone new.

It took about three rings before the receiver answered,

"Hello, Who is calling at this ungodly hour?" A strangely old voice came,

"Ruby, why are you acting old?" The blonde replied,

Ruby's voice changed in tone and became more young and happy,

"I'm in class you should probably hang up Yang, Weiss doesn't look happy."

The blonde, 'Yang', in turn hung up the phone and Began to wonder why Ruby was taking class so seriously all of a sudden, and since when did Weiss have that big of an impact on her behaviour?!

She was cut from thought however at the sight of a real nuisance.

A man sat in an alley, with a bowler hat and a nice white coat, and a cane, he was smoking and reading the paper.

"Torchwick!" Was all yang could say.

Torchwick in turn looked up from his paper and smiled,

"Isn't a strange thing when you find Atlas has shut down their borders, and have given no reason why?"

Yang was shocked, no insults, no mocking, but pure interest, not like her encounters with the man before.

"What do mean?" Yang asked, puzzled.

"Exactly, they're not on the map anymore and the paper says they closed their borders." Torchwick replied, seeming unfazed by her angry tone of voice, he then gave her the paper to read.

The paper was the latest issue, and looked almost like it was all one story,

the headline wrote: Off the Radar, Off the Trade! Off the Radar she could understand, but off the trade?! It was more puzzling than torchwick being nice to her, she immediately called her friends and told them they need to read the paper.

When Yang looked up, Torchwick was gone and alley was suddenly baron, Yang decided to head home, this was rather exciting, she could do a whole investigation thing with her friends and find out what's going on and... She had lost focus on where she was going and accidentally hit someone, the stranger turned and yelled, Yang shook her head and apologised and quickly walked to an airport and took a ride to her university where she did most of her training and stuff.

In her dorm room, a crazy girl was hanging upside down from a very unsafe looking bed that was tied to the roof, she wore red and black, with red hair and silver eyes, she looked up and noticed Yang in the doorway, "YANG! You're back!" She yelled,

" Ruby you don't have to shout, I'm right here." Yang exclaimed,

"Sorry, so Weiss, what does the paper say?" Ruby still spoke loudly, but it was quieter than before,

The girl she was talking to, Weiss, looked up from her paper and said quite blankly,

"Atlas has shut down their borders and closed all communication channels to their area."

Yang walked to her bed and noticed her, kitty cat, friend looking as if she knew this was coming,

"Blakey, what's up, you really don't look surprised."

Blakey looked at Yang angrily, leaned close and shouted,

"how many times do I have to say it's Blake, not Blakey!"

Ruby looked down at Weiss and gestured to the door as if to say they should leave.

Weiss, understanding this gesture, got up and told Blake she was going for a walk, Ruby quickly followed.

"So what do you think of the paper report thingy?" Ruby started,

"Mildly concerning, why would Atlas, a place of prosperity and peace just suddenly do this?" Weiss was starting to sound afraid, and began digging through her pocket for her phone.

_o

Torchwick seemed very uneasy when he returned home, a tri-coloured girl noticed this upon his arrival and proceeded to try and calm him down, he then decided he needed to go to Atlas, and see for himself, he looked at her questioningly, and asked if she thought Cinder would be OK with him taking a helicopter to have a look, it was worth a shot right?

He looked at the table he was seated at and sighed,

"Neo, what is happening, those kids are gone, hmph, Atlas is gone, and I seem to no longer be needed around here, I wonder how much she would hate me if I changed sides?"

Neo looked shocked, this wasn't like him at all, her first instinct was to hit him and tell him knock it off, but instead she sat down, and looked at him like she was worried about him, she finally decided to speak up,

"How about you get some rest hmm? Your not thinking properly, besides, if we swap sides, who is going to trust us? We'd be like, double double crossers!"

Torchwick thought for a moment, and decided to rest like she had said, but he was still intent on inquiring about the helicopter for tomorrow. As he went to his room, he noticed a large teddy bear in the spare room, Neo must have had guests or something,

he reached his room and laid on his bed, staring at the roof, the dull, grey, plain roof as he slowly dozed off to sleep.

Neo watched the TV for a while to make sure he was asleep before sneaking out and heading straight to Cinder, telling her everything, and asking what she should do about it, Cinder didn't seem surprised, she told Neo to just watch him, and go with him to Atlas, she too wanted to know what was happening, Neo then asked about the 'Kids', and Cinder just told to think of it like another date, only about a month longer than a date.

_o

The room was quiet when the girls returned, Ruby went to brush her teeth and to get changed, Weiss just sat down and tried to call home, without an answer she put it down, she was starting to get really worried now, and Ruby could tell, just after Jaune and Pyrrha asked about Yang and Torchwick down the street earlier, wich made her plain out confused.

Weiss decided she would go to the communications tower in the morning and try again, she opened a book titled 'Wars of the Forgotten' to take her mind off everything,

Ruby liked the book and suggested it a while, when she saw Weiss reading it, she felt very happy.

_o

Morning came and Weiss was nowhere to be seen, Ruby just guessed she went for a walk and left to see if she could find her, as she walked about she encountered a rather annoying fellow named Cardin,

Cardin looked rather glad to see Ruby as the insults came quick,

"look guys, the flower girl is walkin' up the aisle!"

Laughter filled the hall as Ruby walked past, then it went quiet when she made her comeback

"I might be a flower girl, but I'm still closer to a happy life than you'll ever be, prison would probably be like a paradise when the real world is done with you!"

Silence, and the odd 'burn man' where heard as Ruby left to continue her search but to no avail,

She used some sort of super speed power to get to the north coast, way past the walls and found Weiss watching the ocean, Atlas was off in that general direction and Weiss came here often, how she got here so fast was unknown to Ruby, but she didn't mind, it gave Weiss a spot to sit and chill, which isn't what happened when a helicopter flew off towards Atlas, bearing the mark of the white fang, everything just seemed to get even more confusing to Ruby, but she decided she was going to find Torchwick and see if he know, she figured if it's white fang, it's Roman Torchwick!


	2. Chapter 2: Close Encounters

Authors note:

Chapter 2 is here, yay, I kinda went brain dead for a while, but I think it came out well, that's for you to decide anyway so enjoy!

Chapter 2: Close Encounters

The flight over to Atlas was long and dull, Torchwick was almost asleep when he finally saw smoke on the horizon, and that was not a good sign,Neo however, was very interested in what may wait ahead, the smoke began to thicken, and the helicopter was starting to cut out, a quick landing was needed, they'd have to walk the rest of the way, Neo didn't really like that.

Along the grass and up a hill, embers could be seen flying through the air, wich made Neo, very, very curious. Torchwick could see the slight excitement in Neo's eyes, wich worried him even more. Upon reaching the crest, a burning city, walls destroyed and yet, no Grimm to be seen for a mile and a half, they camped out for the night, Neo seemed to be texting for a while before finally catching some Z's, Torchwick on the other hand sat uncomfortably and watched the city burn for long time before he got to even think of sleeping.

The moon shone brightly upon the night, 3:00am by Neo's watch, it was Torchwick's only means of telling the time now, a Rustling could be herd from a nearby bush, and loud footsteps close by, Torchwick woke Neo, thinking it might be a Grimm, Neo believed it might be a survivor, her face lit up when the beam of a torch shot past, she seemed so happy to see it, Torchwick stood up and watched men in grey walking up the hill, their torches showing their, uniforms, quite well, they looked tired and stress and some were covered in blood, Torchwick already hated them, as the group vanished from sight Neo went back to sleep, Torchwick soon to follow.

_o

The world seemed to brighten when Weiss entered the room, or so Jaune thought, the class was empty and the teacher seemed to be ranting on about some sort of war, that 'ancient people' believed to have taken place in another realm, though Jaune didn't really understand any of it, he was really listening either, he was to busy thinking of how cheer up Weiss, the whole Atlas report in the paper had taken quite an effect on her and he wanted to make her feel better so bad.

Whilst visiting her dorm later that day, he ended up talking to Ruby when his phone suddenly rang, it was the headmaster of the school, Professor Ospin, he spoke quickly demanding to speak with Ruby.

When Ruby picked up, his voice Began to calm,

"Miss Rose, please head to my office immediately."

"Sure" was all Ruby need to say before leaving and giving Jaune his phone back, Ruby's friends followed, but didn't enter the office,

"What's up Professor?"

"Ruby, somebody is on the phone for you,"

Ruby picked up the phone on the desk and gave a cautious, "hello?"

"Listen up Red I don't have much time, she'll be back soon, I need a lift, I have lots of information for you and you friends and-"

"Wowowowowow, who am I talking to?!"

"Only your favourite criminal, now be quick, I'm near atlas, get me out of here! I don't understand a word they're saying except for one guys who was saying something about, uuuhhhh, Panzer!"

"Ok ok, Torchwick, we'll come get you, as long as you give us this, information, your talking about"

"Of course"

_o

Neo was interested, those men looked like they were running from something, and what were they talking about when they mentioned panzer, what was panzer? Neo just had to know, she was just about to go find Torchwick when her thoughts were interrupted, a man stood there, looking slightly afraid,

"Amerikan?"

"What's Amercan?"

"English!, err, hands up! NOW!"

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to hurt you, who are you anyway?!"

" afraid, not English, not Amerikan, who are you?"

"I'm from Mystral,"

"I'm from Germany, are those things yours?"

Neo thought he must be talking about Grimm, and began saying how it's only natural that they attack and asked what kind attacked them, the only reply she got was,

"I don't know, all I know is, it shredded the Tiger like it was paper!"

Neo thought for a second, and spoke

"A tiger doesn't have very strong skin though,"

"The tiger is one of the fatherland's most powerful weapons!" The man shouted in anger,

"I'm sorry I thought you were talking about the animal"

By now Neo was thinking if 'those' weren't Grimm, what were they?

Neo asked if she could be taken to where the attack too place, and the man hesitantly agreed, bringing 4 of his 'Nazi' buddies with him, Neo wanted to know what Nazi was too but the attack would need to come first. The sight was dead ahead, and Neo already hated what she saw.

_o

The helicopter ride to Torchwick's location was loud, Ruby didn't like being on a helicopter, she preferred to be running around and fighting up close or close range shooting, helicopters were just uncomfortable, just as she was starting to doze off from boredom, she noticed something she'd not seen in a long time, a ship, a little one, throwing things into the water,shortly after there were explosions from where the things sank into the water, some kind of underwater bomb.

As the explosions stopped, a kraken rose from the depths, still, motionless, they killed it, a first for everything Blake told her, and now she really thinks it's true, as they flew on, the ship seemed to follow them, until they found a much, much bigger ship, so big it looked like an island!

Yang was very unhappy with the plan to save Torchwick, she kept saying it better be worth it, she then noticed on the front of the big ship, a red rectangle with a cross, with arms on the end, like 4, 90 degree corners connected in the centre, yang wondered what it meant, but that didn't last very long as they were landing in what seemed like seconds, Torchwick was on and they were out of there, he seemed to stare uneasily at the big ship, yang believed if it worried him, it worried her.

The return trip was uneventful, until anti air fire began pounding the helicopter, they'd been followed, the big ship was slowly catching up, which really surprised Yang, she went to the cockpit to ask the pilot if they could go any faster, then noticed a flame from the rear, the helicopters engine was hit and they were losing speed, Tochwick was rambling on about the people he'd seen at atlas, pointing to the ship and saying, Bismarck, he now realised Bismarck was the ship's name, and it was a name to remember.

The helicopter took another hit, the pilot was seriously injured and the helicopter began to lose altitude, by now Ruby was panicking and looking for ways to survive, they weren't far from shore, so she figured a distress signal might work, once the pilot sent the signal it was only a waiting game, the Bismarck, as Torchwick called it, had given up, she figured it was afraid of the airship moving to rescue them, as the helicopter hit the water, Ruby started to lose hope.

A larger transport helicopter came down to save them, the Airship had lowered itself also, but that didn't make her feel better, looking at the ship on the horizon, she noticed 4 turrets, aimed straight at them, or so she thought, as they fired, 8 huge explosions erupted from the airship and escape craft were short to follow, the transport helicopter made haste and returned to shore as quickly as possible, as they passed the beach, Yang noticed people watching the airship, a ball of fire, plummet into the ocean and disappear from sight.

_o

"They seem to be spying on us, suggested actions?"

"Pursue, we'll hit em' hard and really give em' something to worry about!"

"I'll inform the AA units immediately Sir."

"Excellent"

On board the Bismarck, AA crews began to fire and light up the sky like a brilliant storm, the helicopter was down in an instant, and people quickly began to argue over who got it, the captain however was not satisfied he believed the Destroyer had 1 up on him for killing that enormous octopus, and his opportunity to strike fear into his enemy soon rose, an airship thing, like a giant bomber, slowly lowered itself to a perfect spot for the main guns,

"Main turrets, 235 degrees horizontal, 38 degrees vertical, fire when ready!"

"Are we gonna hit that thing captain?!" A shocked voice came from the radio,

"Of course we are, there is nothing that can stand against us!"

"Of course Sir!" The voice sounded uneasy, but shortly after the guns all fired and the airship like thing was falling like an asteroid.

"Capt, we should probably head back, we need fuel."

"Well let's hope they got some from that city we attacked right?"

"Of course Sir."

"Engine room, status, I want to know why we can't reach full engine power!"

Another voice came through the radio,

"Sorry Sir, we'll get all engines running right away!"

Another successful day for the captain, all he needed now was a good night's sleep.

Sleeping was all anyone could think of at the moment, the ship reached a small port and they rested there for the night. The Capt. Was relieved to finally get some sleep, they destroyer docked just beside them and followed their actions, they didn't know it yet, but the morning was going to be very eventful.

Authors note #2

Please remember to review or comment or whatever it is, feedback is always appreciated.


	3. Chapter 3: Ther Great Plan

Authors Note: this chapter came quicker than the last, I got a little bored so I continued the story, might start chapter 4 next week.

Chapter 3: The Great Plan

The small sight wasn't too much to look at, Neo believed she was inspecting a Grimm attack, but the slice marks up the side of what they called the 'chassis' were too clean, too thin the be Grimm, almost like mechanical blades were shot from close range, Neo began to think maybe this was an attempt of defence when the city was attacked, but deep down she already knew this was something else, a bandit attack, maybe even remnants of the Mafia.

The Tiger looked like the cannon was used as a ram, by the way it was bent, yet more scratches up the side of that too, then she remembered, 'those', more than one thing attacked this vehicle, and they really didn't struggle, the wheels behind the tracks were in almost perfect condition, like they wanted to take this away if they could.

Once again, Neo was dragged from thought as the sounds of Anti-Air fire began booming all around them, small aircraft began flying to the south in combat formation and people appeared from almost nowhere, taking defensive positions, Ironwood seemed to be launching some kind of counter attack, Neo could already see his flagship on the horizon, this would either help, or hinder the plans that Cinder had.

_o

"The city was burning, like somebody hit it with a napalm strike!"

"Impossible, we have no bombers and only 8 fighter squadrons, who would devastate a whole city with just that?!"

"No idea Cpt, but the commander says we need to find out soon, with that

Tri-coloured weirdo around he believes things might get a little worse"

As the conversation finished, almost as if on Que, the anti air guns began booming as an enemy air raid headed straight towards them, all fighter squads had mobilised and all ground units seemed to be taking up a defensive posture, all hell was soon to break loose and there was still so much to be discovered.

"Downed one! Looks like you'll need to find your money mate, I'm winning!"

"Lucky shot, plus these guys don't really look like they're trying to win, they aren't even trying to out manoeuvre the fighters!"

"Those big ones are worth 50!"

The captain monitored his crew, and after listening to them place money on aircraft, he finally decided he needed to chip in,

"What's the matter boys? Afraid you'll lose your money? 250 for the big ones! Come on boys get your game faces on!"

"Aye Capt, we be pirates of yer goin' to be that greedy!"

"Haha, cut the accent sailor, we have an attack to... dissolve"

"Nice choice of words!"

"Shut up and shoot them down! Earn some money boys!"

Up in the air, the helicopters and fighters Ironwood brought in finally broke formation, and engaged the Germans, the fighters would hook, flip and even loop de loop to avoid being shot down, the enemy had strength in numbers, yet the Germans continued to fight, an anti air gun labeled 8,8 took aim at the airships, once it opened fire the airships were in trouble, a shell piercing and nailing the engines of one and it was down and in the ocean after 30s or so, the well trained, outnumbered Germans were beating a glitched AI piloting the Air craft, the battle lasted 6 hours, and Ironwoods flagship, along with 3 other airships, was all that remained, after fleeing the scene, the Germans to their time to rest and continue to try and find answers.

A conclusion was reached, the Bismarck would sail south.

_o

Ruby was doing everything to calm Torchwick, he seemed so uneasy about the situation he was stuttering and beginning to turn pale, everyone else in the canteen gave her very mean looks as she talked to him like he was a friend.

Finally deciding to take him to her dorm, she pulled him along the hallways and up the stairs, passing a very angry yang along the way, Ruby wondered why she was so angry, but that would have to wait, whatever Torchwick discovered is much more important. The dorm was much more than Torchwick expected, he began to slightly giggle at the bunk beds, making Ruby think her plan worked, she had calmed him enough to talk.

"So, what did you see over there?"

"Oh, Uhm... Just a burning city, a heap of people talking Jibberish, and Neo looking waayy too interested about everything"

"Jibberish eh? Like what?"

"I don't know, they just pointed at something and said 'panzer'."

"Ok.. What about the city? What was it like?"

"Burnt, the place smelt like death, people everywhere, but they had already passed, and a lot of flags, but not the same as on the Bismarck, they're different, like the flag of Atlas, but... Argh... Different"

"So like different colours?"

"Yeah, and lots of blood"

"Ewww, anything else, did you find anyone in particular?"

"No, the whole place was ruined!"

"Did you get anything?"

"Just an out dated map, here you can keep it"

As Torchwick handed her the map, Weiss snatched it from Ruby's hand and looked it over, then looked again. Her reaction was almost photo worthy, she stood and gaped at the map, before finally screaming,

" this isn't a map, it's a battle plan, and it covers the whole world!"

"I think things just got worse, should we show Ospin?" Ruby sounded unsure,

"Red, Ozzy would only over react, we should probably handle this ourselves, then when we have enough info, we show Ozzy"

"I hate to admit it, but Torchwick is right we should investigate a little more first"

"Okey dokey, let's not get the police involved though, we'll all go to jail for being his accomplices!"

"Well you sure know how to make a man feel good about himself don't you?!"

"Eheh, sorry"

_o

"This is starting to get annoying!"

"What do you mean?"

"He is still alive! Why?!"

" well you see I had this plan, I texted her and I thought she'd-"

"HA! You thought?! I'm the one who does the thinking around here,

not you! Numbskull, just remember your place, if I tell you to do something, I WANT RESULTS!"

"Ok ok, I'll set an ambush or something and"

"NO!, this time I'll take care of it and ensure you don't fail again, take the jet, and kill those two imbeciles before they cause anymore trouble!"

"Of course"

"I'm starting to think killing the other few problems will be slightly more difficult, than the lovers, I should remember that before we commence operation Nomad."

"Ah Sir, we found the perfect person for annihilating Torchwick."

"Good, I'm listening."

"Once this person eliminates hi. Though we should cut her off, she wouldn't be a very valuable asset at all, maybe even a traitor."

"As long as it gets done! Who is it?"

"Winter Schnee, an Elite to say the least."

"Good, tell her there is a reward but don't tell her why"

"Of course sir!"

"I'm beginning to like you Dr, the weapon better be ready in time though, or I may not like you as much."

"yes sir"

"Time to ready the fleet."

Authors Note: I tried to make this more mysterious as this is supposed to be a mystery adventure thing, so I hope you enjoyed it.


	4. Chapter 4:Unexpected Guests

Authors Note: This chapter is a little longer than the others, I keep looking at them and thinking they're too short so this one and the rest to come will be much longer.

Chapter 4: Unexpected Guests

Cinder walked around her base, mumbling, the men all noticed she was not happy, something had happened late last night and it really hit Cinder hard, Emerald and Mercury were nowhere to be seen, presumably dead, one man asked her how she was doing, but only got told, 'this is starting to get annoying' in a mocking tone, then continued storming along.

Neo had only just returned, somehow from nowhere, and already was being told she failed, she tried to say she didn't receive the text until he'd already gone, but Cinder was too angry to listen. Neo left to find the love birds, but to no avail, the love birds were gone, and Torchwick was still alive, twice over the weekend something had gone wrong, or worse. Neo didn't want to think of anything that might be worse, she was now concentrating on a way to find Torchwick.

_o

6 hours at sea and a very quick landing, A man in grey, commonly known as Edwin Schmitt, was tired of water, and his comrades ranting and raving about how they aren't a reconnaissance squad, he eventually got tired of their ranting after walking along a beach and left them, heading further south, to find a strange girl in red killing even stranger monsters.

One monster knocked her off her feet, but she almost instantly

used her gun to regain her footing, her gun! Edwin was almost out of breath just watching, and to know someone has the stamina to move around like that was just amazing, Edwin got a small book and pencil, and began to draw what he saw, it was a good drawing too, Edwin was proud of it, one of his best, his comrades always called him a sissy because he liked to draw, but that never stopped him.

He must have really put his mind to the drawing because as he finished the last details with the grass, a voice came from behind saying it was a good picture, Schmitt turned and saw a short girl, white hair, and blue eyes, and a lovely white dress, yet, she spoke the language of his enemies, luckily he had been learning English.

"American? or another English scum!"

"Uhhh, I'm from Vale if that helps?"

"Oh, another one like miss three colours at once back at base."

"Wait what? You've met Neo?"

"Is Neo pink brown and white?"

"Yes!"

"Unfortunately I have, is she a friend of yours?"

"no an enemy, say, why are you drawing my friend?"

"I have never before seen such a fight, or a monster"

"Wait!, on your arm, that cross,"

"Swastika, the sign of our people and our nation,"

"It was on that ship that attacked us!"

"Were you on that, hover thiny?"

"A helicopter, and yes I was!"

"I'm not a part of the crew on board the Bismarck, however I am sorry about the.. Helicopter"

Out of nowhere, a couple more people appeared, 3 girls, one looked bored and tired wearing mostly black, one looked like an over confident blonde, and the other-

"Hey wei- that is an awesome picture! Is that me killing the Ursa?"

"The giant bear? Uhm, yes"

"Coooool"

"Can I borrow it?"

"Why?"

"To quickly photocopy it so I can hang it on my wall"

"How?"

"Just give me the picture, I'll bring it back!"

"Fine , fine, take it"

"yesss!"

The girl dissapeared in an instant as he gave here the picture, he was shocked at that, things just kept getting stranger,

The girl in white began to quickly explain,

"I-Its her semblance, her semblance is speed, we all have a semblance, I can make glyphs, Yang gets stronger when she is hurt, and Blake, Blake makes a clone of herself or something?"

"Ok..."

"What's your semblance?"

"Uhm... I'm a good shot with my STG44?"

"That's not a semblance that's just good aim"

"I don't think I have a semblance"

"Of course you do, everyone does"

"I don't, I'm not magic or any of that"

"Ok ok, let's head to town, it's getting late."

_o

"So, your supposed to be the best of the best, an assassin, but a juggernaut? Tell me, how does that work?"

"I sneak in, kill the target and if something happens, I run out guns blazing"

"So you will be able to kill Torchwick yes?"

"Of course, there is nobody who can hide from me"

"And who do you serve?"

"The highest price, I'm only in it for the money"

"And how much is that?"

"Whatever your willing to pay"

"17 million"

"It will be done by tomorrow"

"Good, go then, you will be paid when it is"

The phone rang for only a short second before it was answered, however both the receiver and the caller didn't seem to happy,

"Is it done?"

"Yes, they're gone"

"Good, I've sent an assassin after Torchwick, you should watch him, maybe you'll learn something"

"I already know everything I need to know, I don't need some assassin teaching me to fight!"

"You said that before I showed you your place too!"

"You- hmm, what would you have me do?"

"Nothing you're on break, I just wanted to know if those two were dead yet"

"And again, they're dead, gone, no longer among the living"

"Excellent maybe you aren't as useless as you keep showing me you are"

"Anything else?"

"Nothing yet, but I think I might have something for you soon."

_o

"I gotta say, it was a beautiful city, we didn't really cause much damage, we just hit a couple of warehouses and gas stations for fuel, 3 days later, the city was gone, just a fire in the distance, we couldn't have done that, we have no bombers, and tanks alone would just scratch the surface, that's the reason we're here, we wanted to see if we could find out what happened"

"And so, your leaders sent soldiers?"

"I told you that already"

Edwin was about to say something else when his radio began making a distorted noise, he picked it up, apologised to the man in front of him, pressed a button and said

"Sgt. Edwin Schmitt here, what's going on!"

A voice came through, difficult to hear as it was but Edwin seemed to understand perfectly, as he replied in his own language

"Fall back to the ship, I'll meet you there later!"

The voice came through again, nothing had changed about, Edwin nodded as they talked and soon the radio went dead,

"I'm sorry, my squad was asking where I was and before I could answer they were attacked by monsters"

"I see, and was that your name? Edwin Schmitt?"

"Yes, and what's yours?"

"You can just call me Prof. Ospin, I'm the headmaster here at beacon,"

"I kinda gathered that but the suit"

"Oh this? It doesn't mean anything"

"But it's a good suit, I like the colour"

"Really? Thanks, I thought it might go horrible with all the green in this room, but then again"

"Yeah I get what your saying,"

" can I ask a favour of you?"

"Sure"

"I'm going to be sending a team, to find out what happened in atlas, would you mind going with them?"

"Hmm sure"

"Great!"

Edwin left the room, pressed the dial on the elevator as he was going down, he thought about this team he was sending, who they might be, if he would like them or not, and if those bozo's of a squad actually returned to the ship, the only way to fi d out was to return to base, and wait for them there.

He slowly walked down some hallways, down some stairs and out to north, he knew the ship would still be there, so didn't need to hurry, it was only a short 3km walk anyway.

_o

Excitement filled the helicopter as they prepped for take off, Ruby was going on about how this investigation will be even cooler than the last, they'd almost got rid of the white fang last time, and maybe they'd be able to Finnish the job, Ruby was so happy with all the possibilities of this ending, however Blake seemed to just sit there and watch, it wasn't long before they were in the air over the ocean at all, it was like the helicopter was up in the blink of an eye, literally, as they crossed the ocean, Blake saw the Bismarck, sort of leading them on, she wondered why the helicopter slowed down as if they were following, she was getting very bad feelings about this mission.

Ruby just kept thinking about it, then talking Weiss' ears off and thinking about it more, there was just no end to her excitement, until they landed! On the beach, beside the Bismarck. A small boat came from the mighty ship, 6 Poehler on board, they all looked like they were trained to be expressionless, until Ruby called out,

"Edwin! I have your picture!"

"Oh bugger, that's the team?"

They landed on shore, Edwin's squad getting off, laughing at him and taking off, Ruby looked angrily at them as they left and they didn't even say hi, but Edwin stopped for a chat,

"You're the investigation team?"

"Ruby here is far to excited about it but, yes"

"And you are?"

"Weiss, I already know who you are"

"Ok, hey don't be mad at them, they got called to slaughter some monster things, they'll be playing cards tonight if you want to join"

"We have an investigation to begin"

"I know, I was assigned to your team"

"We should start with the city hall, come on atlas isn't far from here"

Edwin looked at Blake, Blake already knew this was going to hit Weiss with the feels Edwin broke the silence by telling them he signalled the helicopter to follow the Bismarck, so he could meet the team, but silence fell very quickly again as a city, somehow still burning, appeared just a few kilometres away, Edwin radioed for a vehicle to take and make things quicker, Ruby looked at him, only hearing sdkfz, and about 10 minutes later, an sdkfz 250 roared as it parked along side them, base was only a few hundred metres down west of the hill, and the crew told him to drive it himself, they weren't going in there, so they go out and returned to base.

Edwin never liked the vehicle crews of any of the vehicles, except his brother and friends in the Königstiger but that was it, he hated the rest of them, he jumped into the driver seat and told the girls to get in the back, Weiss was hoping they would be able to stop by her fathers home before they leave atlas, but the investigation would come first, Ruby could see this and began to try to calm her down while the half track began to roll down the hill, toward Atlas.

Authors Note: This one was much better than the last I think, the mystery is all coming together now, or at least i think it is.


	5. Chapter 5: Embers of Pain

Authors Note: this chapter will slightly piece together the puzzle, I hope.

Chapter 5: The Embers of Pain

The half track began to slow as they entered the city centre, as the rubble and burnt out cars made it difficult to travel the roads, the world around them was dead, people were everywhere, but not among the living, the whole city population was gone, but Ruby still felt like she was being watched, constantly looking around to see, but all she could see was skies of red and bodies among burning buildings.

The city hall was no different, broken glass lay in the burnt grass and the pottery was ruined, the two story structure looked as if it was going to fall, and yet it didn't, the flag of atlas, indescribable, except to say it was shredded, and the insides looked to still be burning, as Ruby go off the half track, she looked up to see a squad of small flying things, like planes but, different from the ones she knew, taking her mind off that she entered the city hall, and headed for the first office she found, while everyone else still gazed at the hallways, old burnt paintings still hanging somehow, and doors laying over the floors, the place smelt like sadness, and looked like the pits of hell.

Ruby shrieked, seeming to find something shocking, as Yang rushed in she saw nothing but a body, but there had been so many of those around why had it shocked Ruby,

"Ruby, of all the bodies we have passed, this one scared you?"

"No, that painting is brand new, and unscathed!"

Turning around, Yang saw the painting Ruby had seen, a boat, with little paddles, perfect glass frame and everything, somebody had been here after the city was attacked, and now, Ruby was determined to find out who, Yang could see it in her eyes, then Weiss called from the floor above,

Rushing in, everyone was eager to see what she found, upon entering the small office, it too seemed like all the others, burnt and ruined, except for yet, another painting, but more confusing, it was a heart, with Pyrrha in the centre, bleeding, the group was horrified, except Edwin, although he didn't know Pyrrha, he continued to check out the building, until he heard something on the roof, he drew a pistol, his trustee P38 and silently ran upstairs to the roof, to find a guy who looked like Christmas tree, lights all over his arms and torso, and gears everywhere else,

The man quickly drew a rifle to shoot but Edwin was too fast, three shots to the right arm rendered it useless, the man dropped the rifle, but made no sound, instead he faded away with a magnificent red glow, Edwin grabbed the gun, inspected it, looked through the sight, and began talking to himself,

"This would be a nice souvenir, a little something to take home and play around with, might even help keep those ba-"

"Where did you find that?!"

"I just shot a living Christmas tree to get it, didn't you hear that?"

"I heard gunfire, but a living Christmas tree?"

"Yeah, he just sort of, faded away in a glow of red"

"Ahh, a robot"

"Sooo, not a man?"

"Yes, but if there was a robot here, that must mean someone else is here too!"

"Alright, Weiss was it? Look around you, there is nobody for a mile and a half"

"Then where did the robot come from?"

"Well, maybe it was recon, from somewhere far away!"

"There is somebody here, I know it!"

Weiss wasn't wrong, there was somebody in the city, watching them, very carefully.

_o

From across the city, on top of the tallest building that is still standing, 2 people were watching team RWBY, a telescope and other devices were set up to record everything.

"Boss wants this done perfectly, we take one alive and kill the rest, I believe the small one will be an easy grab, but I like that blonde, hmm"

"Shut up, you only like her because you want her gauntlets!"

"Jealous that I don't really like yours?"

"I can't wait to see you at the small one's knees, begging for mercy"

"She looks weak and immature an easy capture, or kill"

"Don't be fooled, she can fight, very very well, she has single handedly taken out hundreds if Grimm in about an hour or so"

"Ok... So we have a fight on our hands"

"The trap will work, they found the paintings and shot the bot"

"Shooting the robot wasn't part of the plan"

"Oh well, it was salvaged from the ruins of the military nothing special"

"I got a phone call, oh boy, isn't this perfect"

"Boss?"

"Exactly"

Cinder Fall, and some other fellow were being as quiet as possible, on account for Blake's ears, they were unknown to their emery until cinder answered the phone, and copped an earful and more,

"Hello"

"Is that team dead, yet?"

"Uh, no, didn't you want one of them alive?"

"Of course I want one alive you bafoon! Don't you ever listen!"

"Don't yell, you'll blow our cover"

"Cinder, they see us, and they don't look happy!"

"Adam? Are you about to get in a fight?"

"Yes boss"

"Brilliant, I was wondering when you were going to strike, by the way, they are replica gauntlets Cinder, how low is your budget?"

"Boss got ya there"

_o

A tall building, not very far from where they were, was making a lot of noise, or so Blake thought, ruffling and hissing, although Blake thought the hissing was actually whispering, and her thoughts were confirmed when she saw Cinder, copping quite an earful from whoever was on the phone, the position of a fire made it look more, suiting, as her name was Cinder, and the were embers and things flying around behind her.

"Guys, we're being watched!"

"That phone is not happy is it?"

"Really Ruby?!"

"Sorry, I just think it's funny, the phone really does not like her!"

"Huuuuuh, what about you Edwin, Uhm, Edwin?"

At this point, Edwin had acquired what looked to be a giant tube with a flat square on the end, Blake wanted to know what he was doing, but he basically told her, as he fired a rocket, straight into the bottom of the building, wich then made the building collapse,

"I knew that would happen! Stupid burnt building, why am I such a bad shot?!"

"What?"

"Panzershrek"

"That's a panzer?"

"No, it's a panzershrek, I'll show you a panzer later"

"Ok... They're not dead!"

"I'll kill em quickly enough!"

Cinder and Adam appeared in front of them, as if they were waiting for them to strike, until Adam turned to look at the building, the began to yell,

"What the hell man you could have killed me!"

"That was the plan, I'm just a terrible shot"

"Oh really?"

"No I'm saying it because I think it's funny!"

"Oh, ok then we'll how about I show you some manners?"

"I have manners, I just choose not to use them at this point"

"Oh a funny guy huh?"

"No, that would be Carl, he is currently elsewhere"

"This is getting nowhere, we've been told to get rid of you, all of you"

"And who is your boss?"

"Oh well you see our boss is a person who you would never expect, you see, our boss is none other than oof!"

As he was about to finish, Cinder shoved her fist into his stomach to shut him up, then looked at Ruby, then Edwin, then to the rest of the team,

"So wich one is it?"

"I'm sorry what?"

"Who's your girlfriend?"

"My girlfr- I have a wife back home!"

"Ooh sophisticated"

"How so?"

"Getting angry yet?"

"Uhm, no, you people are trying to make us angry?"

"Yes, however, I think little Red sees something in you"

"That doesn't surprise me, I'm a very attractive fellow"

"Ok I'm bored, let's fight!"

Edwin seemed unsure at first, then noticed something over Cinders shoulder, almost like those storeys he had been told as a child, help isn't far at all,

"Sure, I could go for some fun!"

Edwin drew a flare gun and aimed it straight at Cinder, team RWBY prepared for a fight, although Weiss just wanted to check out what was up the street, but that would have to wait.

Ruby struck first, lashing out with a giant scythe, only just missing the top of Adam's head, in turn Adam thrust forward with his sword, only to be blocked by Blake, he then threw his fist at her, planting it right into her shoulder, although Blake didn't seem to feel it, Yang and Weiss turned to Cinder, and prepped for a challenge, Cinder step back with one foot, and drew a bow, Weiss drew her sword, and Yang readied her gauntlets, as Weiss was about to strike, Ruby and Adam flew past between them, Ruby laughing and Adam flailing while Blake stood and watched, Weiss turned her attention back to Cinder, and watched as Cinder was engulfed in a huge yellow flame, before an explosion erupted form where she stood, as the smoke faded, Edwin stood with his flare gun aimed at where Cinder once stood, then smiled.

_o

"I find it funny how they can't hear us talking"

"Yeah, oh well, I'll light up your target, you do the rest,"

"Sure"

5 men sat I a large grey box, with a smaller box on top, and one big cannon on the front, watching the fight take place, Edwin was supposed to light up their target so they knew who to point the gun at, but he seemed to take his time, it always annoyed Carl, Edwin always took so long to do things, and Carl was always waiting, until the flare lit up a girl in red, with long black hair, that was when the commander began to move the turret,

"Main gun, -16 degrees"

"Yes sir, but I think we are shooting too high,"

"Account for Gravity"

"We aren't that far sir"

"Very well, add a minus 6 degrees to that"

"Yes sir"

Carl lowered the gun by -22 degrees, and fired, the tank rocked back from the blast of the mighty cannon, taking the target by storm, the target almost disappeared from sight, until the smoke and dust cleared, then the whole group could be seen, and Edwin making another one of his 'heroic' poses, as the tank crew stared and laughed, the radio operator asked if Carl wanted to say anything, but then the fight continued and the girl they shot began to stagger toward them, then the forward machine gun showed her what pain really was, as she staggered even more, dropped to the ground, and disappeared.


	6. Chapter 6: Disappointed

Chapter 6: Disappointed

Torchwick was enjoying his time in Beacon, he enjoyed just strolling around the hallways and through the gardens, he was doing just that when he crossed paths with a heavily aromoued person, a snowflake on his right shoulder.

"Hello there jolly ol' chap, how may I be of service"

"You can start by dying"

"Your a girl?"

"I don't have time for this, prepare to die"

"Dying is a thing I find difficult"

At that last word, Winter Schnee thrust forward with a sword, barely missing,

"Your losing your touch"

Winter Ignored him, and continued her assault, and yet Torchwick was avoiding every strike like it was nothing, she slashed across his stomach, just scraping his suit, he was not happy about that, he threw a pot into her face shield, and shot her sword away, making his next part even easier, Winter began doing some kind of Kung Fu,

Chopping and punching and kicking wherever she could, and yet still Torchwick avoided every strike, he then shot the back of her knee, not a very well armoured part of the suit she was wearing, he made her kneel before him before he began to remove the helmet,

"In the flesh, you haven't changed at all"

"And you have managed not to die, for a while I see,"

"So, what's the occasion?"

"What do you mean?"

"Armour? Really? You never use armour"

"I thought it would help"

"It made my job easier"

"What job?"

"What's yours?"

"I was hired to kill you"

"Hired? To kill me? You've been trying to do that for years! You don't need to be hired!"

"Well when I'm getting 17 million I do"

"17 million for me? Oh that's sweet!"

"Shut Up! your just lucky to be alive!"

"And soon you won't be, who hired you?"

"Can't tell you"

"Shame that, it might have saved you"

*Bang*

Winter fell silent, and sloped to the ground, motionless, Torchwick had won, although nobody knew about it, the two had been rivals since school, he could still remember when she threw a table at him, as he walked away, he began to hum his favourite song, a very happy song for such a dark occasion.

_o

"Winter Schnee is dead, killed by Torchwick"

"That guy was supposed to be the best! How could this possibly happen!?"

"Winter is a girl, and she had quite the history with Torchwick, the Dr overlooked this when he saw her profile"

"Is the fleet ready?"

"Yes, also, Cinder Fall is missing, presumed dead"

"That will help when we begin operation Nomad"

"The Airships are at Vale to gather citizens when we need"

"Good, load all weapons and protect them as they rebuild"

"And then we begin phase 2, Mistral"

"And phase 3?"

"Vale"

_o

The group made it to Weiss' fathers home, a large house, almost comparable to a castle, although without the towers, Ruby couldn't believe Weiss once lived here, she rushed inside to look around, but it was empty, burnt and empty, Ruby was slightly disappointed, hoping to find some kind of riches, given who Weiss' family was, upstairs however, was more complex, a maze almost, as Ruby progressed through the corners and walkways, she found one room, with a desk in the corner and a bed by the window, both burnt and ruined.

As Weiss finally caught up, she stopped and looked at the door, and the shape of the window, a beautiful snowflake shaped window, Ruby wasn't looking around the room anymore, she was staring into Weiss' eyes,

"This was your room, wasn't it?"

"It was, nothing has really changed, on account for the burning and all that"

"It's so small, I expected you have something better"

"No, I was more... The underling of the family, so to speak, so I got small things, and low respect,"

"Wow, I'm, sorry to hear that"

"Don't be, life is always tough, no matter who you are"

"Sure"

Ruby began to look over the city, it was quite the view here, she could see burnt parks, burnt streets, burnt out cars, a crater, wait, a crater! Ruby realised that must be the cause of this whole thing, the entire city to be destroyed, one big crater.

"Maybe we should go check that out"

"What, the park?"

"No, there, that crater!"

"What do you think we will find there!?"

"I don't know, I just thought because it's a crater, we might be able to get a rough idea of what we're dealing with"

"... Your thinking, your actually thinking, it's kinda scaring me"

"I think all the time!"

"Yeah, about cookies and your Scythe!"

"And... Wow, your right"

"Anyway yes, the crater might be a nice place to look"

"Well, let's go"

_o

"The world is a small place, aye General"

"What do you mean?"

"My investigation team found a crater, the size of which only one of your weapons could make"

"My men did not bomb Atlas, what point is there in bombing our own home"

"I don't know James, why?"

"I don't know, that's why I asked you!"

"This is starting to seem a little suspicious,"

"How?"

"First, Atlas is destroyed, a month before the festival, then, your ships arrive to protect them while they rebuild, what's going on James?"

"I, don't, know!"

"Well find out! I want this little mystery solved before anyone else gets hurt!"

"I'll head to Atlas and have a look"

"Good, I have a small warehouse to look into, the White fang has made another move"

"Just be careful Oz, I don't want you to end up like Qrow's friend Summer"

"Do not! Bring up Summer here!"

"Ok sorry"

_o

"I'm beginning to think this wasn't just an ordinary Napalm strike, this was much bigger"

Team RWBY finally reached the crater, although Weiss stayed at her home for while longer before catching up,Edwin had disappeared with a large, loud grey car, and Grimm had very slowly begun to enter the city.

"I think this was like some kind of bomb"

"You don't say"

"But I did, it's huge!"

"We already informed Ozpin about it, we don't need one of your conspiracy theories!"

"Well, nerr"

"Making noises won't make things better Ruby,"

"Sorry"

"Everything seems, a little odd, like there is so much we're either missing, or has been removed, I'll be honest I was hoping to find a lot more than we have already,"

"Don't worry Weiss, it will much cooler soon, I'm sure!"

At that moment, like Ruby had given some kind of signal, a loud noise began to sound, a thruster or something, and it was getting closer, Yang looked up and noticed a Paladin Mech Suit, slowly hovering down about fifteen metres away, when it landed, yang got a real good look at it, Armoured plates on the upper arms to protect the joints, same with the legs, the pilots seat was well around too, this Paladin was Armed with a lot more a normal one too, it's arms were littered with rocked launchers, heatseeking probably, and machine guns everywhere else, as well as a cloaking device to move undetected to a new spot to shoot from, the pilots window began to open up, and with an angry expression on his face, and face that was all too familiar, all the girls got was a keen, and confident 'hello girls'.

 **Authors Note: I hope this chapter is as good as I hoped, please remember to review so I know what I need to fix up, thanks.**


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